Friday, July 31, 2009

The story goes that the new installment in the Private Collection series was based on a formula for a fragrance left unfinished during the lifetime of Estée Lauder, and for once I believe the press release. The substantionality and the classic structure of the blend the green buttery bitterness of which reminds me of Lauder's orginal Private Collection and Azurée, and a certain "not-of-this-time-ness", convince me that the legendary "Formula #546AQ" was in fact used to built upon in the creation of Jasmine White Moss. The fragrance has a retro feel, not because the scent is old-fashioned but because they just don't make them like that anymore.

It is also obvious that an initial mix was infused with a touch of contemporary. There is a juicy, brisk freshness of citrus and black currant in the top notes that is quite au courant; and the base, although undeniably and luxuriously chypre, has that "mineral" pepperiness which, to me, is a characteristic of modern chypres. The fragrance has "moss" in the title, but this is "White Moss Mist"(an Estee Lauder exclusive), not actual (oak)moss. Not that it takes away from the richness and beauty of the composition.

Green florals might be my favorite floral category (it also might be the least represented right now, lets' hope that the new Private Collection fragrance will revive the trend) and, of the three scents in the Private Collection, Jasmine White Moss is the one I like the most, even more so than the luminous Tuberose Gardenia. I find nothing to criticize in JWM: I love the crisp, dry and yet dewy top notes, I love how much galbanum I smell in the mix, I cannot get enough of the luxuriant heart of jasmine made creamy or rather, I will use the word again- buttery by the addition of ylang-ylang and orris. I appreciate how the earthiness of patchouli and the raw verdancy of vetiver are tamed into a refined, old-world chypre base. I love how rich and long-lasting the fragrance is and yet how it wears without being in the least overwhelming.

And I would lie if I said that I am not drawn to the blue and white ornament of semi-precious jade, lapis, sodalite, agate, mother of pearl and agate that adorn the cap of Parfum and the case of solid perfume.

Yay! I just bought this today (along with a very nice GWP) and am really enjoying it so far. I don't know if it will pass up Tuberose Gardenia as my favorite in the PC, but I really do like it - which is good because I had to make a special trip to The Galleria just to smell it and then found out that Neiman Marcus doesn't even take MasterCard - AmEx and NM Card only - thank goodness I had enough cash or I would have been really annoyed. Or just went to Nordstrom's - lol.

It is nice to see that at least one mainstream (and easily affordable) brand is still making perfume for grown-ups.

Sadly, I did not get the lapis-jade bottle - that one is $325! Which would be one thing if it was the only perfume that I wore, but since it is one of 40+ bottles ....

I'm afraid that I only got the 1 oz bottle. I think that if I were going to get any of the PC parfums, it would probably be the TG. Even then, the parfum would have to be glorious because there are a lot of things on my "to buy" list and the bottles spend all of their time in boxes and dark cabinets. Maybe I could just snag an empty bottle or just the lapis-jade cap from somewhere.

As it was, they seem pretty fixated on the bigger bottles - I had to tell them several times that I only wanted the 1 oz size today.

Interesting..this one smells awful on me. I adore Tuberose Gardenia, in fact I can't stop wearing it during this balmy July. But Jasmine White Moss..I had such high hopes for me but alas.....I'll try it again I'm sure and I'll let you know:)

I was waiting for your review since I read the first about this perfume - and yes, your review confirmed that I NEED a sample, rather now, immedietely. And I'm so with you on green florals, sigh...love,m.

I love this scent. If you go to the EL website and to the JWM fragrance and look for info about its creation, you will see an offer to use promotion"JASMINE" with any online order and they will add a sample. I'm so excited about that.Jill S

Oh, my wish list gets longer all of the time - I have to stop sampling or it will never stop!

Right now, my list consists of Chanel No 5 parfum, Shalimar edp, Jicky edt, Mitsouko parfum, L'Heure Bleue parfum, Quand Vient La Pluie parfum, Hermessence Vanille Galante, Czech & Speake No 88, and probably the Chanel Eau Verte after I take another sniff. Of course, I also still have about 50 samples to wade through, so I'm sure it will grow! And I already have enough frag to last 20 years.

I keep telling my husband that it could be worse - I could be addicted to crack. I'm not sure that he sees the difference, other than the fact that I smell great (except for when I smell like cumin or play-doh or lemon bug spray[I'm talking to you Fresh Sugar Lemon]) - lol.

Ok M!I just revisited JWM...... I must have been way off the day that I first sniffed it! I tried it again and I love it and all of it's sparkly yumminess! It's very warm and steamy here and I now smell as if I have been dancing down Bourbon Street! I am thrilled!

Oh boy, could this be the "modern" Lauder that finally gets me roped in? It sounds wonderful, I must find it immediately and try. Green florals are my favorite category too, and there are so few newer ones these days. (Nothing can ever truly replace my beloved Vacances, but eventually I will need to find something else to fill that space.)

I'm actually a fan of EL fragrances - I think many of them are really well done. A couple of weeks ago, I sampled Jasmine White Moss on one hand and Bvlgari Jasmin Noir on the other. The EL was much softer and mostly about the jasmine [I didn't get any moss until the very end and it was very mild], where as the Bvlgari scent was darker and definitely noir-ish - imho. It was a tough decision, but since I already have the other two EL PC scents and didn't have any Bvlgari fragrances in my collection, I purchased the Jasmin Noir the other day. Saving it for the Fall. I'm into my Tea scents at the moment during this hot humid weather.

Marina, I felt so heartened to see this creation pop up on the perfume counter. Like you, I miss those days when women a tad more sophisticated than caramel-drizzled Jell-O lovers were catered to by fragrance companies. And you've got to hand it to Estée Lauder for keeping their 50s-60s-70s classics in production!

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